Many people use vacuum cleaners to clean and tidy their homes. Normally vacuum cleaners are used to pick up dust and debris using a negative pressure. Dust and debris is entrained in an air flow and sucked into the body of the vacuum cleaner wherein the dust and debris are separated from the air flow. Once separated from the air flow, the dust and debris are collected and usually emptied in a dustbin at the user's convenience.
Some vacuum cleaners have complicated mechanisms for emptying the dirt container. For example EP 1 377 197 discloses a trigger mechanically coupled to a rod and latch release mechanism for a lid of the dust container. The user may not understand how to release the lid of the dust container and may damage the latch mechanism by attempting to prise the lid open.
Another vacuum cleaner is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,914 which has a storage chamber for receiving dirt and a filter mounted between the chamber and the rest of the vacuum cleaner. In order to empty the storage chamber, the user must touch the dirty filter and thereby getting their hands soiled when emptying the dust container. Furthermore the exhaust vents of the vacuum cleaner are located on the underside of the housing. This means that the exhaust clean air can be directed forwards towards the nozzle and the dirt and debris can be blown away from the nozzle. This is undesirable because the vacuum cleaner itself can end up distributing the dirt and debris further afield.
Embodiments described hereinafter aim to address the aforementioned problems.